When Henry Turner completed his time in
the U.S. Army in 1998, he went to Canton,
Miss., to search for retirement property. At
the center of the community sat a beautiful
golf course, a course Turner, who is black,
wanted to play.

“The Realtor looked at me and said, ‘You
won’t play at this golf course,’” he recalled.
“After that experience, I said I’m going to
buy a golf course, go back to Canton, I’m
going to look that Realtor up and say, ‘You
know what, that’s OK. I don’t have to play at
that golf course; I now own a golf course.’”
Seventeen years later, Turner is ready to
find that Realtor. Along with two partners,
he acquired Marlton Golf Club, a semi-private, daily fee-club featuring an 18-hole,
par-71 course in Upper Marlboro, Md., in
April.

Marlton Golf Club became the 12th
course in the U.S. added to African
American Golfer’s Digest’s list of African-American owned, operated or managed
golf courses in the United States. African-Americans own only four other courses on
that list.

“So many of them have come and gone,”

“It is very unfortunate.”

Turner did not realize how rare his situation was until after the acquisition.